SCO 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



SCO 



549 



leaves ; corolla of a golden yellow. Native of the south of 

 Europe and Barbary, on sunny sandy banks, and among rub- 

 bish. Sow the seeds in March or April, on a bed of fresh un- 

 dunged earth, in an open situation; when the plants come 

 tip, keep them clear from weeds, and thin them so as to 

 leave them about two feet asunder. As they send forth 

 tap-roots, they will not bear planting well. If the season 

 should be warm and dry, they will perfect their seeds in 

 autumn ; but in wet seasons they rarely perfect their seeds 

 in England. 



2. Scolymus Hispanicus ; Perennial Golden Thistle. 

 Flowers heaped ; involucres leafy, tooth-spiny. Root peren- 

 nial, from which spring up many thick stalks, that rise about 

 three feet high, branching out on the sides the whole length, 

 and having stiff jagged leaves. Mr. Miller observes, that 

 the leaves, stalks, and root, abound with a milky juice; that 

 the people of Salamanca eat it in the same manner as Cliar- 

 don; and that the Spaniards adulterate their Saffron with the 

 flowers. It flowers from July to September. Native of the 

 south of Europe, and of Barbary. This, and the following, 

 may be increased by offsets. 



3. Scolymus Grandiflorus; Great-flowered. Golden Thistle. 

 Flowers solitary, the upper ones approximating; involucres 

 coriaceous, nerved, lanceolate, acute ; root perennial, fusi- 

 form, white, the thickness of a finger. The whole plant 

 milky. This is a very beautiful species, flowering early in 

 Bprjng, and now cultivated in the European gardens. The 

 Arabs eat the stalks both raw and boiled. Native of Egypt, 

 and very common in the fallows of Barbary. 



Scoparia; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one- 

 leafed, four-parted, concave; segment slender, rugged. 

 Corolla : one-petalled, wheel-shaped, spreading, concave, 

 four-parted ; segments tongue-shaped, obtuse, equal ; throat 

 bearded. Stamina: filamenta four, equal, awl-shaped, shorter 

 than the corolla ; antherse simple, roundish. Pistil: germen 

 globose; style awl-shaped, length of the corolla, peimanent; 

 stigma acute. Pericarp : capsule oblong, conical, acumi- 

 nate, one-celled, two-valved. Seeds : very many, oblong. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: four-parted. Corolla: 

 four-parted, wheel-shaped. Capsule: one-celled, two-valved, 

 many-seeded. The species are, 



1. Scoparia Dulcis ; Sweet Scoparia. Leaves in threes; 

 flowers peduncled. Root annual; stalk hexangular, rising 

 nearly two feet high, and sending out many branches, which 

 have three leaves placed round at each joint; flowers nume- 

 rous, axillary, solitary, small, white; capsule the size of 

 hemp-seed. The French call this plant Balaidoitx, or Sweet 

 Besom ; the Spaniards Escobil.la Menuda, or Little Besom : 

 they both use it in disorders of the breast; and Browne says, 

 it may be considered as an excellent vulnerary. Sloane says 

 the leaves have a sweet taste, like liquorice; and is known 

 in Jamaica by the name of Wild Liquorice, or Sweet Weed. 

 It flowers from June to September. Native of Jamaica, Ame- 

 rica, the Caribbee islands, and also of Cochin-china. Sow 

 the seeds upon a hot-bed in the spring; and when the plants 

 are fit to remove, plant them upon a fresh hot-bed, shading and 

 watering them until they have taken new root; after which 

 admit air to them daily, according to the warmth of the sea- 

 son, and refresh them frequently with water. In June they 

 may be taken up with balls of earth to their roots, and 

 planted into open borders, where they will flower, perfect 

 their seeds in the autumn, and soon after perish. 



2. Scoparia Procumhens. Leaves in fours; flowers sessile. 

 Scarcely six inches long, like the former in habit, but the 

 stems are forked. Native of New Spain. 





3. Scoparia Arborea. Leaves lanceolate, alternate, quite 

 entire; corymb superdecomponnd, trichotoraous. A tree, with 

 the habit of an Olea or Phillyrea. Native of the Cape. 



Scopolia; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth of one 

 leaf, inferior, small, in five deep, ovate, acute, concave, 

 spreading, permanent segments. Corolla: petals five, oblong, 

 sessile, erect, bluntish, concave, keeled at the upper part 

 behind; nectary none. Stamina: filamenta five, awl-shaped, 

 erect, opposite to the petals, and rather longer, dilated and 

 triangular at the base; antherse roundish, incumbent. Pistil: 

 germen superior, roundish, with five furrowed lobes; style 

 scarcely longer than the germen, furrowed lengthwise, swell- 

 ing in the middle; stigma three-lobed, obtuse. Pericarp: 

 capsule of five cells, nearly globose, dotted, with a succulent 

 coat, some of the cells often abortive. Seeds : solitary, 

 oblong, somewhat kidney-shaped. ESSENTIAL CHARAC- 

 TER. Calix: inferior, five-cleft. Petals: five. Nectary: 

 none. Stigma: capitate. Capsule: succulent, of five cells. 

 Seeds : solitary. The species are, 



1. Scopolia Aculeata. Stem prickly; leaflets obovate, 

 bluntly pointed; panicles axillary. A stove plant: the 

 branches, and sometimes the footstalks, are armed with 

 hooked prickles, like those of the Rose; flowers small, white. 

 The whole plant sprinkled with glandular dots. Native of 

 the East Indies, the isle of Bourbon, &c. 



2. Scopolia Inermis. Stem unarmed ; leaflets obovate, 

 obtuse. This has the habit of the preceding species. Sup- 

 posed to be a native of the isle of Bourbon. 



Scorpion Senna. See Coronilla Emerus. 



Scorpiurus; a genus of the class Diadelphia, order Decan- 

 driu. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one-leafed, 

 eretft, inflated, very slightly compressed, half five-cleft, 

 acute; teeth almost equal, the upper ones less divided. 

 Corolla : papilionaceous ; banner roundish, emarginate, re- 

 flexed, spreading; wings subovate, loose, with a blunt appen- 

 dix; keel half-mooned, with the belly gibbous, acuminate, 

 erect, two-parted below. Stamina : filamenta diadelphous, 

 (simple and nine-cleft,) ascending; antherae small. Pistil: 

 germen oblong, cylindrical, a little reflexed ; style bent in 

 upwards ; stigma a terminating point. Pericarp : legume 

 oblong, subcylindrical, coriaceous, striated, rugged, revolute, 

 divided internally into several transverse cells, obscurely 

 knobbed externally by the contraction of the. joints. Seeds: 

 solitary, roundish. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Legume: 

 divided by isthmuses, or transverse partitions, revolute, 

 cylindrical. The species are, 



1. Scorpiurus Vermiculata; Common Caterpillar. Pedun- 

 cles one-flowered; legumes covered all over with blunt scales. 

 Stalks herbaceous, trailing, above a foot long, lying on the 

 ground, and having at each joint a spatulate leaf on a long 

 footstalk; flower-stalks axillary, each bearing a simple yellow 

 flower; succeeded by a thick twisted legume, of the size and 

 appearance of a large green caterpillar. Native of the south 

 of Europe, flowering in June and July. The plants of this 

 genus are all annuals, and are propagated by sowing their 

 seeds upon a bed of fresh light earth ; and when the plants 

 come up, they should be thinned so as to leave them ten 

 inches or a foot asunder, because their branches trail upon 

 the ground, and if they have not room ttiey are apt to over- 

 bear each other, and thereby are very often rotted, especially 

 in moist seasons. The weeds should also be diligently 

 cleared from them, otherwise they will grow over and destroy 

 them. In June they will produce small yellow flowers, 

 which are succeeded by pods so much like caterpillars, that 

 a person at a small distance would imagine they were real 



